The gastroenterologist of the University Hospital of Rangueil, Touluse, and researcher at INSERM, Louis Buscail explained his latest advances in gene therapy for advanced pancreatic cancer in IDIBELL seminar series on 11 November.

Currently, the only effective treatment for pancreatic cancer is surgery. The chemotherapeutic agent gemcitabine improves the survival of the patient but survival is not prolonged. The team of Louis Buscail has designed a new gene therapy using “a genetic component that sensitizes tumor cells to gemcitabine, causing it to be much more efficient because it induces cell death by apoptosis and tumor regression.”

After testing this therapy in animals, in 2010 Buscail launched a Phase I clinical trial with 12 patients. Pending the results, the French researcher is cautious and says that “we must go step by step. Our next challenge is to reach Phase II in order to test the therapy with many more patients. ”

In parallel, Buscail continues to research for biomarkers that may be useful for new treatments for pancreatic cancer or to improve their diagnosis.